Haddock Farm Hive Oscar

Inspected the Oscar hive at the Haddock farm tonight. Took the queen encluder off. Inspected the combs and about 6 of them are completely packed with capped brood. Eggs also. I saw the queen. These Carniolan queens are sure attractive bees. The girls are extending the combs down into the bottom (empty) box. Slightly off center but still removable I added bars to the top of the 3rd box (with waxed wooden comb guides) for when they decide to move up there.  I also removed the empty food can and old queen cage. Good laying pattern. Pretty calm bees overall.

New queen for Schampel TBH

Got a queen from my friend Paul tonight. We were out at his apiary collecting some brood combs for a queen rearing box he's building. We found lots of capped queen cells in one of his hives. He took one off and handed it to me telling me "here's your queen!". He knew that I have a queenless colony. I could feel her moving around inside the cell. As I examined it closer I could see that she was chewing the cap off. I watched as she hatched out right in my hand. Way cool! We found an old queen cage lying around and placed her in it with a few worker bees. After finishing up at his place I drove to Shampel TBH and hanged her on an empty bar placing it between bars 2 and 3. I had used a marhmallow to plug the entrance to the queen cage hoping to keep her in for a while. I found 2 capped queen cells in this hive but left them there. She's a Minnesota Hygienic mix of some sort (just what she's mixed with - who knows). I'll check on her again in a few days to see if she's been released. Still a lot of capped brood and larva on these 6 bars of comb.

Swarm catching

I got a swarm call about 3:30 this afternoon. There was a swarm in the backyard of a friend of a friend and they wanted them gone. I took off immediately (I love my boss) and went home to get my stuff. All of my TBH hives are occupied so I grabbed an empty lang. I've decided to manage it Perone style.

The bees were about 4 feet off the ground in an apple tree. I had permission to prune the tree but decided a good shake would work and I wouldn't have to do any cutting.

I placed some landscaping paver stones under the tree to set the box down on after shaking the bees into it. I held the box in my right hand and vigorously shook the branch with my left. I took one sting on the right arm as the bees fell. Most of the bees went in the box and the rest were on the ground in the grass around the stones. I set the box down and placed the lid on it, leaving it cracked. I did not remember however to put in my top bars until several minutes had gone by and the bees were already beginning to cluster on the lid. I placed the bars all on the one side (1 inch bars - with waxed wooden strips for guides) and closed the lid completely, knowing that I'd have to reposition the bars when I put the hive in it's final place at home.  I shook the branch again as there were bees starting to cluster again in the tree. I took another sting, this time to the face (first face sting - ever). Within just minutes you could see the bees in the grass begin moving towards the hive, climbing up the bricks. Many were waving their nasonov around at the entrance so I knew I had the queen. It was so cool to see them "marching" up the bricks and into to the hive.

The weather was rather nasty. Cold and windy.

I left the hive there and went back to work (3 blocks away), telling the homeowners that I'd come back to get it later. After work there were still many bees in the grass and a few still in the tree. I decided to leave it until after dark. Even after dark, there were quite a few bees left in the grass, showing no signs of moving into the hive. I ended up leaving them there as I wasn't sure how to get them into the box. I took another sting on the leg while rearranging the top bars after getting them home. She had crawled up my pant leg.

Note to self: get a sheet and keep it with my stuff. It would have made my job (and the bees job) much easier if I'd had a sheet spread out under the swarm instead of letting them fall in the grass.

The homeowner told me that they had been in the tree for at least 3 days. His little girls had been telling him about the bees in the tree and he didn't think much of it. Figured they were just wasps. When mowing his lawn yesterday, he finally saw for himself what the girls had been trying to tell him.

Three stings and a bit of time for a large bunch of bees (10 lbs?). Not bad at all. I figure the weather and the amount of time they had been there already contributed to their grumpy mood. Had I known they had been there that long, I might have suited up.

Bait Hive Check

Well the girls haven't found my bait hive yet. It's only been a weak. I guess I can't expect much. Perhaps they have found it and are just waiting for the weather to cooperate.
It's a good hike anyway and the  company was great!

I can't get my head around to peek into the tree but I can reach around with the camera and take pics. You can see comb in this first pic (towards the top). I'm so curious about the size of the tree cavity. The tree doesn't even look that big.

A little tidying up

I opened Prazen TBH1 tonight and inspected all the comb. 7 bars so far (with three emptys). I removed the queen cage that I had left in there. I saw the queen. Very dark. I took a picture of my fallen comb guides. The girls have drawn comb from the bars down to the comb guide, making it one sturdy comb. Not sure how to remove the guide at this point so I'm leaving it there. Two bars are like this. I did prune the ends of the guide strip back so they aren't tempted to bur comb it to the side of the hive.

The Split

I inspected Schampel TBH1 today. All is very well. 10 bars of brood and eggs. Good laying pattern. Drones present. Whatever was in before that I thought might be EFB is cleaned up and gone. I personally think it was partially rehydrated crystalized honey. I pulled out all the empty (and crooked) honey comb.

Look at how fat some of those combs are!

Also pulled out the 3 bars of honey on the other end since they were severely cross combed.

I took the 4 bars that were fused (due to the girls drawing their comb out between the bars rather than centered), put them in a nuc box and brought them home (with the queen). This leaves 6 full bars of brood and eggs in the hive. Can't decide if I should let them grow their own queen or order a new one  (A russian perhaps).

All in all they were very docile considering how invasive this visit was.

The nuc box had the comb that was centered between bars. I used strips of aluminum (printer plates) as straps to hold the comb centered under the bars after I cut it off and adjusted it. Saw the queen. Also saw many eggs and capped brood. Left the 4 bars of brood and eggs with an empty comb between them and 3 empty bars on the side. Also left some of the honey that I had removed from the Shampel TBH on the other side of the follower board (with a hole in it) for them to feed on if they need it.

Got the remaining honey comb crushed and straining right now.
Also melted down all of the wax (plus other wax that I'd been sitting on.) I put the wax in a pot of water and bring it to a boil. I then poor it through a paint filter into another large pot and let it cool. The wax floats to the top and hardens.

Bee Lining (without bees)

I had posted a month or so ago about some dark bees that were cleaning out some honey from some old combs. See previous post here. Now that there is plenty of natural forage everywhere, I can't get them to come back to a bait station.

They had flown off in a South West direction when they left before. I checked with the land owner of the first farm in that direction and got permission to tromp around looking for bees. Plenty of huge old cottonwood trees (some of them dead) that I thought might be perfect for a feral colony. My search turned up nothing. I even spent some time at the pond looking to see if I could catch some drinking and follow them home from there. Not a single bee.

It turns out that the next land owner in that direction used to keep bees commercially (at least his dad did) about 25 years ago. He gladly gave me permission to tromp around on his farm and instructed me that, should I find any bees living in the trees, I should "box them up and take care of them." He then gave me a bit about wild bees left to themselves would just get (and spread) disease.

Before leaving his house to check out the farm, he pulled apart an old bee box by the fence (3 deeps) that had been sitting empty in the back yard for years apparently. There was not even a bit of paint left on it. The bottom box had obviously housed mice for who-knows how long. All three boxes housed wasps. He offered me the frames if I was interested and then pointed out some cells that he said contained foul brood and said it might be best not to take them. He'd "hate to pass on the disease to my bees."

I didn't see a single bee on his farm either. Though I did find this:

And this:

Stacks and stacks of old hives, some of them complete with frames and comb.

Many had been mouse infested. Saw no sign whatsoever of bees.

I found it curious that he was worried about the diseases that the "wild bees" would have but he wasn't concerned at all about what diseases all this old equipment might be spreading. Especially when he knows the one hive had foul brood. I know of at least three of us beekeepers within a one mile radius of his farm. 

Very nice fellows, both of them. Gave me open permission to tromp around whenever I'd like. The weather wasn't the best on the 2 days I looked and it was rather late in the day so I might try it again on a nicer, calmer day and try to go out mid day rather than in the evening. Perhaps they were all at home just quietly buzzing in their colony somewhere and I missed them.

I still want to find those dark bees!

Bait Hive and Bee Tree

I placed a bate hive the other day in the vicinity of a bee tree. The tree is miles away from anything civilized. You wouldn't think it could even house a colony of bees by looking at it but they are there and have been for quite some time. The tree is perched on the edge of a rock outcropping several hundred feet from the bottom of the canyon. I could hear the buzz of the bees from the bottom of the canyon before I started my climb.

There was a lot of activity in front of the hive. There were many drones around the entrance and also on the ground below the tree. Many bees bringing in pollen.

Look at all those bees!

Drone

View from directly above (don't look down)

When I was approaching the tree, the breeze was in my face and I could smell the sweet smell of the colony from about 12 feet away. Most of the bees (all except for one, in fact) couldn't care less that I was there. The one was not menacing, only curious I think. buzzing around checking me out and then returning to the tree.

I placed the bait have a hundred or more feet away in another tree. It's concealed pretty well and I hope no one will bother it. It's also scented with a couple drops of lemon grass oil. It's got 10 bars in it with waxed comb guides.

You can't even see it can you?

My plan is to check it in a couple weeks to see what I've caught. And if nothing, then to add a couple more drops of lemon grass oil.

I someday want to spend time looking for other colonies in this canyon. I find it hard to believe that this is the only one. Especially since I know it's been there for years.

A Proper Apiary

I had my empty hives in another part of the yard. Setup, ready and waiting. I put a couple drops of lemon grass oil in each one today hoping to attract a swarm. I then decided that if I do catch a swarm I don't want the hassle of moving the colony so I repositioned the hives into the locations I would have them  if they were occupied. I also replaced all the top bars with bars that have guide strips securely attached.

Bring on the swarms!

Dropped guide strips

I pulled out all of the top bars with strips that hadn't been glued or waxed into place and replaced them with  top bars that have strips that are glued or waxed into place.

There are 2 combs that have dropped with the guide strip (see drawing). There are 3 other combs that are still in place but that also will be drawn out more and become much heavier. The 6th bar that they had started had fallen and since it only contained pollen and nectar, I removed it. They have 5 empty bars to work with. 

The two that had fallen are filled with eggs and brood (some capped) and I don't dare remove them.

The girls are busy drawing out comb now from the top bar down to the guide strip (see drawing). Perhaps they'll connect it all together and It'll be fine. I'm worried about them attaching it to the sides. At least it's straight comb. Perhaps it won't be too bad.

Good Idea - just not thought out.

Had a chance to look into the Prazen TBH today. They are starting on the 6th bar of perfectly straight comb. Very gentle bees. Except for the one who got to close to Ibrahim and got swatted at. I had told E not to move quickly or swat. It's hard not to, even for me. The swatting pissed off the bee and she got him. Right on the ear. I felt terrible. He seemed so interested watching me pull the combs out and look at the bees.

With my experience with cross comb last year, I had made up my mind to give them some comb guides this year. I had cut strips of wood 3/4" tall 1/8" wide and about 13" long. These strips slid perfectly into the 1/8" kerfs I had sawed into the top bars. Most fit snuggly so I didn't glue them. I hadn't figured on the weight of the comb. I assumed that the bees would glue it all together with wax when they drew their comb out. As it turns out the bees are just hanging their comb on the bottom of the strip. The 2 most drawn out (and full of brood) combs have detached the strip from the top bar They had fallen into the hive and are dangling by the ends of the strip. The weight of the comb is keeping the bar straight however I'm afraid that the comb might be soon bur combed to the sides. Not sure what to do about it at this point. Thought of tying the strips back to the top bars but I don't know.

I will certainly replace all unused top bars with top bars that have had the strip secured with wood glue or bees wax. I finely grated some wax and put the grated wax on the joint between the top bar and the strip of wood. Using a lighter I was able to melt the grated wax until it ran down the seem hopefully securing the two together.

As I had seen both eggs and capped brood, I removed the queen "includer".

Oscar Update

Had a chance to check on Hive Oscar today. Just peaked under the lid into the top (empty) box. The bees were  all down in the frames. The queen is released. The queen cage is propolized to the top of the frames. There was still some sugar water in the can so I left it there. There's a small gap between the bottom 2 boxes. I was able to peek between and see that they were drawing out comb down into the bottom box. Didn't have time to inspect for eggs or larva. Left the queen "includer" on for now.